[People News] On November 25th, Wu Renhua—a participant and researcher of the Tiananmen Square movement, now an independent scholar living in exile in the United States—posted a video link on X. The video is more than six hours long and contains the entire military trial process of Major General Xu Qinxian in 1990. Xu Qinxian was the commander of the CCP’s 38th Army during the Tiananmen Square massacre who disobeyed orders and refused to deploy troops into Beijing to suppress the students.

Xu Qinxian may have been forgotten by many people. This video, buried for more than thirty years, turns the clock back again to that heavy moment on June 4, 1989.

When the 1989 Tiananmen student movement broke out, Xu Qinxian was commander of the CCP’s 38th Army. On May 17th, he was ordered by his superiors to lead the army into Beijing to enforce martial law, but he refused to sign the deployment order. Acts of directly disobeying military commands are extremely rare in the CCP military. The 38th Army was the CCP’s top main force—known as the “Imperial Guards” and the “Long Live Army”—so Xu’s defiance shocked Deng Xiaoping and Yang Shangkun. He was immediately removed from his post and ordered detained by the General Political Department’s Security Department. In 2001, he was sentenced by a military court to five years in prison and served his sentence at the Qin Cheng Prison under the Ministry of Public Security. He died in January 2021.

The video shows the presiding judge of the military tribunal asking Xu Qinxian what his reaction was when he received orders to deploy troops into Beijing to enforce martial law.

Xu responded: “I said I had a different opinion about this,” and believed that large-scale political events involving the masses should be resolved through political means. He said that this mission was not the same as fighting on the frontlines or disaster relief: “The troops and the civilians are mixed together—who do you shoot?” He believed the matter needed to be handled with great caution: “If it’s not executed properly, it could make us into historical criminals. If something goes wrong, who will be responsible?”

After his release, Xu accepted interviews from some scholars and media. He said he did not regret his decision. He once told historian Yang Jisheng that he would “rather be executed than become a historical criminal.”

In just a few days, the video was shared millions of times on overseas platforms. Although it was quickly censored in China, it continues to circulate wildly in encrypted channels and private groups. Internet users praised Xu Qinxian as a “true hero” and a “true soldier.”

However, how did such highly classified content get leaked? Wu Renhua did not disclose the source. But many believe the video came from within the CCP system.

The day after the video surfaced, on November 26th, the director of the CCP’s National Administration of State Secrets Protection, Li Zhaozong, and his deputy, Shi Yingli, were both removed from their positions. Many speculate this may be related to the leak of Xu Qinxian’s trial video. The timing of the personnel move is seen as too coincidental.

Immediately after, on November 28th, the Central Military Commission issued a newly revised supplementary regulation to the Disciplinary Regulations of the People’s Liberation Army (Trial), to take effect on January 1, 2026.

According to overseas independent commentator Cai Shenkun, who revealed details in his media program, the supplementary regulation appears to be connected to the leak of Xu Qinxian’s trial video.

Cai said the most lethal and politically charged clause in the “supplementary regulation” is that it essentially criminalizes the conscience of soldiers, mandating “absolute obedience.”

The regulation separates “refusing to execute orders” from the existing “crime of disobeying commands,” elevating it into a separate “serious crime.” Previously, under CCP military law, “disobeying orders” was considered a wartime offense, typically invoked only during urgent military operations or wartime. The new regulation treats “disobedience in peacetime” as equivalent to “wartime treason.”

In the explanatory notes, two types of situations are specifically named as key targets of punishment:

  1. When “pacifying riots, disturbances, or major political events,” if soldiers refuse to open fire or refuse to carry out clearing operations on grounds of humanitarianism or conscience;

  2. During major missions, if soldiers make unauthorized statements that may undermine morale or leak related directives to the outside world.

The supplementary regulation also includes provisions resembling collective punishment. Once convicted, the soldier’s direct relatives will be permanently barred from applying to military academies or joining the armed forces.

Many believe this is essentially a “Xu Qinxian clause,” designed specifically to prevent situations like Xu’s 1989 refusal to obey orders.

On December 1st, the CCP’s Party journal Qiushi published an article by Xi Jinping titled “Achieving ‘Five Further Improvements’ in Advancing the Party’s Self-Revolution.” The speech was taken from a collective study session of the Politburo in June 2025. The article explicitly calls for “resolutely eliminating all factors that undermine the Party’s advanced nature and purity.”

It is clear that Xi Jinping is wielding the so-called “self-revolution” blade to warn the entire Party and military that the “Xu Qinxian-style conscience” is not a hero but, in his view, a “toxic tumor” that must be cut out.

The timing of the exposure of Xu Qinxian’s trial video coincides with a massive purge within the CCP military, widespread demoralization in the ranks, intensifying factional struggles, rising tensions across the Taiwan Strait, a declining domestic economy, a looming local fiscal crisis, and surging public discontent. The CCP regime is beset with crises on all sides.

It is obvious that Xi Jinping is terrified of soldiers with “Xu Qinxian’s conscience.” If such conscience were to awaken in thousands of CCP soldiers, the Party’s command over the gun would immediately fail. Without the gun, the CCP becomes nothing but a paper tiger—and its collapse could come overnight.

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